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Baby handed to US soldiers in Kabul evacuation chaos still missing

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Reuters

A two-month old baby handed over to US soldiers during the chaotic withdrawal process in Kabul in August is still missing.

In an exclusive interview with Reuters, the baby’s father Mirza Ali Ahmadi said it was a split second decision to hand baby Sohail to the soldier over a high fence near the gates of the airport as he feared the infant might get crushed in the chaos.

After handing over Sohail, it took the rest of the family more than a half hour to get to the other side of the airport fence.

Once they were inside, Sohail was nowhere to be found.

Mirza Ali, who said he worked as a security guard at the U.S embassy for 10 years, began desperately asking every official he encountered about his baby’s whereabouts, Reuters reported.

He said a military commander told him the airport was too dangerous for a baby and that he might have been taken to a special area for children. But when they got there it was empty.

“He walked with me all around the airport to search everywhere,” Mirza Ali said in an interview through a translator. He said he never got the commander’s name, as he didn’t speak English and was relying on Afghan colleagues from the embassy to help communicate.

Three days went by.

“I spoke to maybe more than 20 people,” he said. “Every officer – military or civilian – I came across I was asking about my baby.”

He said one of the civilian officials he spoke to told him Sohail might have been evacuated by himself. “They said ‘we don’t have resources to keep the baby here.'”

Mirza Ali, 35, Suraya, 32, and their four other children, were put on an evacuation flight to Qatar and then to Germany and eventually landed in the United States.

The family is now at Fort Bliss in Texas with other Afghan refugees waiting to be resettled somewhere in the United States.

Mirza Ali said he saw other families handing their babies over the Kabul airport fence to soldiers at the same time.

Mirza Ali said every person he comes across – aid workers, U.S. officials – he tells them about Sohail. “Everyone promises they will do their best, but they are just promises,” he said.

An Afghan refugee support group created a “Missing Baby” sign with Sohail’s picture on it and are circulating it among their networks in the hopes that someone will recognize him, Reuters reported.

A U.S. government official familiar with the situation said the case had been flagged for all the agencies involved, including the U.S. bases and overseas locations. The child was last seen being handed to a U.S. soldier during the chaos at the Kabul airport but “unfortunately no one can find the child,” the official said.

A State Department spokesperson said the government is working with international partners and the international community “to explore every avenue to locate the child, which includes an international amber alert that was issued through the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children.”

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Continued aid to Afghanistan vital for regional security: Kazakh president

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Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has emphasized the continuation of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, stating that the ongoing provision of such aid plays an important role in ensuring regional security.

Speaking at the international conference “Peace and Trust” in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, Tokayev described addressing complex humanitarian challenges and the reconstruction of Afghanistan as a necessity.

“To ensure regional security, we consider it essential to continue providing assistance to Afghanistan, including by strengthening international efforts to address complex humanitarian issues and the reconstruction of this country. Kazakhstan remains committed to supporting the people of Afghanistan through humanitarian aid, educational projects, trade development, and food security initiatives,” he said.

Meanwhile, experts believe that sustainable improvement of the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan requires broad cooperation from the international community and support for the country’s economic development.

“Investment can be defined as one of the fundamental drivers of the economic cycle, and whenever Afghan traders do not take their money out of the country and instead invest domestically, it naturally leads to greater growth and dynamism in Afghanistan’s economy,” said Abdul Zahoor Modabber, an economic analyst.

As the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan continues, reports by international relief organizations indicate that millions of citizens of the country are in urgent need of food, health, and livelihood assistance.
The reduction in funding for aid organizations, the impacts of climate change, and the return of migrants have increased concerns about a further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the country.

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Islamic Emirate declines to attend Tehran meeting on Afghanistan

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The Islamic Emirate has announced that it will not participate in the upcoming meeting of special envoys of regional countries on Afghanistan, scheduled to be held in Tehran, despite having received an invitation.

In a statement, Zia Ahmad Takal, Head of Information and Public Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the Islamic Emirate has maintained continuous and active engagement with all regional countries through various organizations, regional formats, and bilateral mechanisms, achieving notable progress in promoting mutual understanding and regional cooperation.

The statement added that Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes regional cooperation should be advanced by strengthening existing mechanisms and formats within the region.

Tehran is set to host the meeting next week, with special envoys from Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, China, and Russia expected to attend.

 
 
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Sirajuddin Haqqani: A government that intimidates its people is not a true government

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Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani, Minister of Interior of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, said during a visit to Khost province on Friday that any government which rules through fear cannot be considered a true government.

“A government is one that is loved by its people, one that serves them with respect and compassion, and from whose behavior people learn ethics and sincerity,” he said.

Haqqani also stressed that Afghans who opposed the Islamic Emirate in the past should be tolerated and treated in a way that helps eliminate hostility and animosity, paving the way for national cohesion.

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